The domestic number of cell phone subscribers has exceeded the 40 million mark 22 years after the introduction of analog-based telecommunication service.

The nation's three big telecom providers KTF, LG Telecom and SK Telecom said the number of mobile phone subscribers topped 41 million Saturday.

A daily average of 6,000 people have subscribed to mobile phone service this month, as service providers have launched aggressive marketing ahead of the peak year-end season.

A mere 2,600 people used mobile phones in 1984, when car phones, the prototype of cell phones, were first introduced to the nation.

The number of cell phone subscribers surged to almost three million in 1996 after CDMA service started.

The figure doubled from ten million in June 1998 to 20 million in August in 1999, then reached 40 million after jumping to 30 million in March 2002.